I was finally able to assemble part of the first La Passacaglia rosette.
These pieces make up the outer circle of the rosette. Some clever person showed how she had assembled the outer circle into ‘hearts’ and ‘cones’. I haven’t done a cone yet, but I think this method will work very well.
It is taking me a long time. Once I get time to sew I can make progress. I just don’t have a lot of time to hand sew right now. I am, however, applauding every little bit of progress. I plan to take this to Sew Day and work on it there. I really want to keep up and I have enough projects cut out at the moment.
The other day I talked about starting to baste the first rosette for my La Passacaglia quilt.
La Pass star with diamonds
I worked on it at Craft Night for a couple of hours after cleaning up my sewing room.
As I basted pieces, I couldn’t really wait to see what they looked like so I kept laying them out to see if what I cut and basted looked good together.
I did struggle with what the two videos said about which way the bunny ears should go. I thought I understood, but I still have some pieces that I know are going to be a problem.
La Pass star with diamonds
Still, I am happy with what I accomplished. I think this star looks really nice with the skinny diamonds.
I have seen what other people have made in the group so this isn’t really a huge surprise, but I like seeing what **I** have done. I almost started sewing these together, but I continued basting.
Pieces basted at Craft Night
In one of her videos, Tula talks about saving time and being kind to our body parts. I was pleased with how many pieces I was able to baste. I am pretty sure I would not have been able to thread baste this many pieces in the same amount of time.
I spent Craft Night the other night basting my first La Pass Rosette. Yes, I finished cutting in case that wasn’t clear.
Half Hexie EPP Section – April 2019
On my Half Hexie Star project, I have been thread basting. If you zoom in on the photo (right) you will see the bits of thread holding the papers and the fabric together.
Thread basting is a fine way to prepare English Paper Piecing pieces and their fabric. I had planned to thread baste La Pass. Then I watched the Naudia Tatum video and Tula’s first EPP video, about halfway throug., both of which included sections on glue basting. Sue Daley, the apparent queen of EPP, though I had never heard of her until I started this project, also has a video. Of course, I watched it. I might be tending towards obsession.
Finally, I decided that I would, at least, try it. Time is kind of short around here lately and I really need all the spare minutes I can get if I have any hope of getting anything finished this year.
La Pass -Glue basted diamond
First, I had to find my glue pen**. Fortunately, it was in the place I thought it was. Why I knew it was there, I have no idea. Visual memory, I guess. Then, I watched the glue basting section of Tula’s first EPP video video again and went for broke at Craft Night.
In the photo, left, you can see the swipe of glue on the paper on the right hand side. The process takes some practice. I know there will be pieces where I glued too close to the edge, but I think I got used to the process as the evening went on.
La Pass fussy cutting
The good thing was that I could see the results of my precise fussy cutting right after I basted.
This is some Tula Pink panda fabric. I do not want animal faces looking at me from my quilt, so I fussy cut them in a way that would make black and white optical sort of designs. I am excited to see it once I sew it together.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I talked about cutting the other day, but not in detail. One thing included in the BOM is acrylic templates. These are super handy as they allow me to use a rotary cutter to cut fabrics.
The issue is that they are multi-sided. In all the videos, the demonstrators have turntable mats. I have had a basic one** for awhile. It wasn’t round so it wasn’t ideal, but I never really felt like I needed it.
I took the Jen Carlton Bailly class in 2019 (so long ago? I can’t believe so much time has passed!). That class started me thinking that a real rotating mat might be useful. I decided to put the Martelli version on my wishlist and the YM bought it for me.
Martelli cutting mat for La Pass cutting
I used the Martelli rotating mat** for cutting all the pieces for the first rosette and it was great except it didn’t fit well on my cutting table. A quarter of it hung over the edge of the cutting table, so if I got to close to the edge the mat would tilt. It is a little too large for my cutting table. You can see how half of the mat is hovering over the floor in the photo (right). I made it work, because it made cutting pieces so much easier.
Sue Daley Rotating Mat
Pink Door and Naudia Tatum recommended a small mat by Sue Daley**. I bought one, which arrived the other day – after I cut all the pieces for the first La Pass rosette. This size does not hang over the edge of my cutting table, so I don’t have to be as careful. I have much more control over my cutting.
I think I might be a convert to using this rotating turntable cutting mat.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I spent a few minutes each day this past week cutting the pieces for the first La Pass rosette.
I cut almost everything as the cutting guide suggested. I added teacups for the extreme diamonds (now purple in the lower left), but decided the pieces weren’t big enough to show off the tea cups. They are waiting for another outing.
Small pentagon eyes
I did change the small pentagons. I used dots for some and eye fabric for some. I hope it looks ok.
I finally got all of the cutting done and am ready to baste. I think I am going to use glue. I’ll see how it works and ditch it if I don’t like it.
As mentioned, I joined the La Passacaglia BOM through Pink Door Fabrics. The other day I received my first month’s shipment. This is an 18 month project, so I’ll be getting a lot of these. This one was special because everyone in the group was so excited to start.
Yes, I am in a group of about 500 people who are doing the BOM. There is a private FB group where we talk about our journey. In the group there was a lot of hype up to the first shipment.
La Pas BOM month 1 shipment open
I wasn’t in the first wave of recipients. I got mine probably in the middle group. I have a month to finish the rosette, so I wasn’t worried. I was excited when I got the package. I immediately ripped it open and checked everything out.
La Pass is a daunting project and this group as well as the monthly shipments helps break it down into bite-sized pieces. It also gives me a project on which I can work when my workroom is in disarray.
As I mentioned a few days ago, I watched a video suggested by Pink Door to get ready to make La Pas. I didn’t really feel like I needed to watch it. After all, I have been working on the Half Hexie project for years. I was tired from a long day of Workroom Refresh and needed a break so I sat down and watched it. I found it to be interesting and helpful.
I have most of the tools I need, though I did toss a few more True Grips** and a new kind of thimble to try into my cart as I perused the Pink Door site while watching the video.
The thing I found helpful, was watching Naudia cut and organize her pieces. It was also helpful to see what supplies would be coming in the BOM shipments. The video with this information was especially helpful as I think about making a bag to organize all of this stuff. I have a better idea of the types of pockets I might need. I am thinking I will want to carry stuff around so I can work on this project on the go. So far I need pockets for the following bits and pieces:
Book, which has the pattern*
Tools and supplies
Rotating mat
Rotary cutter
Scissors
I will definitely need a pocket for prepped or cut pieces and their papers
Pink Door cutting guide
extra fabric
thread
What else??
I also liked the way she showed using a rotating cutting mat. Of course, I have used one before, but in a different way. Her rotating cutting mat is really small – good for one piece at a time. Mine is really big, so I may think about buying a smaller one.
*The pattern not included in the BOM subscription. This wasn’t a surprise as Pink Door made that very clear. The pattern is included in the book, Millefiori Quilts**, which is the first Willyne Hammerstein book. Yes, this book is expensive, but worth the money if you make one or two of the quilts. Also, it is beautiful to look at since the quilts are so amazing.
**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
You saw in the past couple of Various & Sundry posts that I was selling my La Passacaglia papers and acrylic templates. I bought them in 2016 from MassDrop and I really did want to make the quilt. I do want to make the quilt. The biggest problem was choosing fabric. I don’t know why this was such a problem, but it was a daunting wall that I couldn’t climb over. I also wanted to finish the Half Hexie quilt before starting on another EPP project.
Pink Door BOM
I did sell them, which is great. A woman in New Zealand bought them and she received them in a week! I sent them Monday and she received them the following Monday! WOW!!
I didn’t give up on the project, however: I am making the quilt. I am making it along with the Pink Door BOM. Their project uses Tula fabrics and larger sized paper templates. It starts in April. They describe what I get as “Your first shipment will include a set of custom acrylic templates for the Pink-Door-Size La Passacaglia quilt with 3/8” seam allowance. Each month, you’ll receive an installment of Tula Pink fabric, paper pieces, the exclusive cutting assistant, 2-pack of Sewline glue pen refills, and an optional coordinating Aurifil thread-set add on that will be custom curated to the fabrics used that month. We will also be sending special super-secret surprise goodies throughout the sew along. Lastly, we have an exclusive Facebook group with custom video tutorials to get you started off on the right foot, as well as a community of your fellow block of the month participants.” I am not providing a link, because the subscriptions are closed.
I have never done this kind of project before. I always, as you know, do my own project. I want my own look to the quilt, so I plan to replace a few fabrics with my own. I have been saving fabrics I thought would be good. I got a few ideas as I was perusing the Millefiori Quilts group on Facebook. I might implement them. I’ll definitely wait until I get the jist of the whole project. We’ll have to see how it goes.
One good thing is that the acrylic templates have a 3/8″ seam allowance. I prefer the 3/8ths seam allowance for EPP projects. I know that they will recommend glue basting. I have a good system going with clips and will try to continue with that.
I went looking for information after seeing some posts from the East Dakota Quilter. I saw a post about making the quilt that I thought was really good. Karen Tripp, who owns the DIY Addict shop (no affiliation!-just a happy customer) wrote about the whole process of getting started. I have to explore more of the post, but I think it will help me get started even with the BOM instructions.
I also looked for other posts and will explore those.
